Light control film (LCF), also known as light collimating film, is an optical film configured to regulate the transmission of light. LCFs include a light transmissive film having a plurality of parallel grooves formed of a light-absorbing material.
LCFs can be placed proximate a display surface, image surface, or other surface to be viewed. At normal incidence, (i.e. 0 degree viewing angle) where a viewer is looking at an image through the LCF in a direction that is perpendicular to the film surface, the image is viewable. As the viewing angle increases, the amount of light transmitted through the LCF decreases until a viewing cutoff angle is reached where substantially all (greater than about 95%) the light is blocked by the light-absorbing material and the image is no longer viewable. The LCF provides privacy to a viewer by blocking observation by others that are outside a typical range of viewing angles.